Ireland’s second biggest bank, AIB, has launched a €500 million agricultural fund. The fund is being welcomed by the country’s agricultural producers after concerns over a lack of financing in the country after the Irish subsidiary of Rabobank, ACC, announced it was closing all of its branches and business centers in the country. The €500 million fund will provide financing for working capital, asset purchases, and farm investments and will be available to farmers who want to refinance existing loans with banks that are exiting the Irish market. The timing of the new agri fund is propitious and comes just as the country’s dairy farmers are expanding production in anticipation of the removal of milk quotas in 2015.
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